Chris Robshaw was today reappointed England captain for the four-match QBE international series against Fiji, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

Robshaw was handed the captaincy by head coach Stuart Lancaster at the Football Association’s national training centre at Burton, as the squad continued their build-up to the autumn internationals, which begin against Fiji on November 10.

The flanker is sporting stitches in his left eyebrow following Harlequins’ 31-28 win over London Irish on Sunday but is going to be fully fit for the first of England’s testing internationals that will determine if the host country will be one of the top four seeds at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Robshaw has been rewarded for his captaincy of England in last season’s RBS Six Nations and on tour in South Africa before injury ruled him out of the Third Test. Seven of his eight caps have been as captain.

Dylan Hartley led England in their 14-14 draw with the Springboks but he could not be considered for the role due to a knee injury that will see the Northampton hooker undergo specialist treatment in an oxygen chamber in a bid to speed up his recovery.

Northampton lock Courtney Lawes will have the same treatment this week for his knee injury and a final verdict on their availability will be made at the end of the week.

Robshaw said: “It’s a real honour to be asked again. I enjoyed being captain in the Six Nations and in South Africa and this is a great group of players who really want to be successful.

“We are lucky to have some good leaders in the squad who I know I can work well with and count on their support. We have a huge opportunity to put a marker down over the next few weeks.”

Lancaster said: “Chris has been outstanding on and off the field and we are delighted that he will captain the team for what will be an immense challenge.”